New Joker Brigade
The New Joker Brigade is a fictional military unit from the Wild Cards series of books. Composed almost entirely of wild cards, mostly jokers, this unit is related to, but distinct from the original Joker Brigade. History The original Joker Brigade was formed during the Vietnam War as a special unit of the US Army. Composed primarily of jokers and their nat commanding officers, the Joker Brigade fought with distinction during the Vietnam conflict, often unsupported and in some of the war's most dangerous combat zones. Joker rights activists and antiwar protesters decried the unit as a racist mechanism to deliberately put jokers in harms way. Decades later, after the government of Vietnam declared their country a homeland for all those afflicted by the wild card virus, the New Joker Brigade was formed. This initiative was spearheaded by former US Army Colonel Charles Sobel, a charismatic, but misguided, veteran of the Vietnam War. This new unit's stated mission was to fight for Vietnam's socialist principles and joker equality, atoning for past military atrocities and paving the way for a brighter future. Members The New Joker Brigade was comprised of both veterans of the original brigade as well as raw joker recruits from around the world, including refugees from the Rox and members of New York street gangs such as the Killer Geeks and Demon Princes. The two most famous members of the brigade, Captain Trips and Croyd Crenson, both fugitives from the law, are detailed more fully elsewhere. What follows are various jokers mentioned by name. * Ent - Ten foot tall joker with leafy hair, bark-like skin, and an incongruously high pitched voice. * Eraserhead - African American joker with extremely malleable flesh and stretchable limbs. * Eric the Dreamer - Survivor of the Rox, a joker-ace with the power to induce visions. * Evan Brewer - Handsome joker with a huge lobster claw for his left hand. * Eye Ball - Point man for Brigade's second squad. His head was one giant mass of constantly merging and subdividing eyeballs. Incapable of speech. * Haskell - Communications officer for Brigade's second squad. Mouth surrounded by long, constantly waving, pink cilia. * Horn - Rhino-like German joker with immense physical strength. * Lt. Lucius Gilbert - Aggressive multi-limbed joker with no prior military experience * Osprey (Lou Inmon) - Bird-man joker and another veteran. * Ram - One of the Brigade's newer recruits. As his name suggests his head sported two huge curling ram horns. * Rocky - Young recruit with pebble-like lumps all over his body. Real name was Mario. * Sgt. Hamilton - African American joker with the head of a German Shepherd and veteran of the original brigade. * Slick - Constantly secretes a fluid akin to mineral oil. * Sniffer - Young joker-ace with small frame, sad eyes, and huge nostrils. Superb tracker. His real name was Madison. * Spoiler - Hot-headed young joker with a streamlined "airfoil" head. * Stewart - Another newbie to the Brigade. His face was covered with constantly running sores. * Studebaker Hawk - Former member of the Demon Princes with fins on his head like an old Chevy. * Tabasco - Joker Brigade veteran with three eyes.